Working on number sense is very important. We do daily number talks to help us understand how others understand math concepts and to expand our own thinking.
I also like to give my kids many opportunities to build number sense. Here we are playing a favorite game called "Bears in Caves". It's from the Math Their Way curriculum and I've been using it for years and years and years. It is a fantastic activity for working on composing and decomposing numbers.
To play the game: Each child gets 5 bears, a bowl to serve as the cave, and a wall to shield the players as they set up their caves. One student holds up the wall and they each player chooses an amount of bears to put inside the cave and to leave outside. I have my kids put the bears on top of the bowl so they can see them easier. When both players are ready, the wall gets removed and the students study the other player's cave deciding how many bears are hiding inside the cave based on how many they see outside. They ask each other, "How many bears are in the cave?" and lift the cave showing the amount after the other player answers the question.
My kids could play this for hours. In kindergarten we expect number sense mastery to five so this game really helps build that for my kiddos.
After they have a firm grasp of number concept to five, then I will add 5 more bears and we will work on composing and decomposing numbers to 10. You can take this simple activity and adapt it for centers or add a recording sheet, but I like to keep it pure. I always have the bears and caves materials in a handy location and I will deploy this game if we have a few extra minutes in our busy schedules. It's a great sponge activity with tons of learning packed inside.
